Battle Report tyranids vs tau
by JCoops
Summary: Not an actual battle report. It is just a story of how a battle plays out between Tyrands and Tau.


**Battle Report:**

**Tau Vs Tyranid**

**The Leviathan Splinter Fleets had finally entered Tau Space. After centuries of prosperity, the Tau were now faced with annihilation at the hands of the Tyranid Hive Mind. The first few planetary outposts, equipped to deal only with slight Imperial raiding, were quickly overrun. By the time the Splinter Fleets had come into contact with a Tau industrial world, the Tau were ready. This is a report of the battle that took place on Dagon, a small industrial Tau world on the fringes of their space. It takes place in the confines of a city. This report is viewed through the eyes of those Tau, and their allies, that fought that day. **

_Shas'OVior'leMont'yr_ viewed the warriors under his command. He had been given a small detachment of troops and was tasked with holding this world against the invading bugs. He had been told that these bugs were ill-equipped and relied solely on force of numbers alone to win their battles. To this end, he had not applied for much in the way of heavy armour. He found tanks unwieldy, especially in a city such as Dagon Prime, where the narrow streets and sharp corners made the tanks seem even more cumbersome than they already were. He had been given the following as his taskforce:

His own personal retinue – 100 Fire Warriors, 3 Broadside Battle-suits

1 Hunter Cadre – 80 Fire warriors equipped with 10 Devilfish troop transports

Kroot Kindred – 100 Kroot carnivores

1 Gue'vesa Auxiliary Company – 50 Ex-Imperial Guardsmen

Gun drone Cadre – 16 Gun Drones

Hammerhead Contingent – 4 Hammerhead Heavy Assault vehicles

Also, due to his good relations with the air caste, they had permitted him the use of 4 Stingray Missile Gunships, which could be launched from their vehicle bays, if needed.

The Tau commander looked to the sky. He saw that his fleet was being demolished by these bugs. Even now, small shapes, what looked like meteorites, were beginning to plummet from the atmosphere into the city. It was time for him to go to work.

_ShasVior'laUmbrine _skillfully led the 2 Fire warrior squads under her command deeper into the city. She had started to hear strange noises in the darkness around her and one of her men had already started firing off pulse rounds into the gloom that had set around them. All of the inhabitants of this world had been shipped off-planet long ago and the silence that remained was eerie. She heard a scream from behind her and swung round, her pulse rifle already pressing into her shoulder.

"What was that?"

"Where's _Carto_?!"

The men around her immediately started to scout around for their lost comrade. She heard another 2 screams, accompanied by the whinnying of pulse rounds going off into the distance. They were being ambushed.

"Defence Pattern Delta 3, around me. Move!"

Men started to scurry round her in a makeshift circle. As they knelt she could see that many of them were trembling. So they were all as scared as she was. That was good to know. Or perhaps not? Something moved in the shadows and she started to fire at it. It swayed in such a strange way that it was impossible to make a hit on it. Within seconds it was inside the circle, ripping the weak Tau bodies to shreds. Another beast joined it from the shadows and the massacre began.

Within 10 seconds there was nothing left of the Tau squads. One of the Lictors lay bleeding to death on the floor, the Tau female commander had managed to let off a pulse grenade before she had been cut in two. It had detonated right in the centre of the Lictors carapace and blown half of its abdomen away. The other Lictor looked on the wounded beast with what could seem to have been pity, before he broke its neck and dragged its wounded carcass back into the shadows where it could be disposed of properly. The Tau could stay where they were. They would serve as a good reminder to anyone that tried to interfere with the Hive Mind's great plan.

The Tau commander was beginning to worry. The scout teams that he had sent out hours ago had not yet returned. Nor could they be raised using the communications. He had overlooked the need for Pathfinders in such dense terrain, something he would not do again. One of the Broadsides came skimming towards him at an immense pace. It stopped within metres of him and gave his report.

"The teams have been found Shas'O. They were devastated by some sort of claw weapon of unknown origin. None have survived."

_Mont'yr _felt immense pity for those two squads. They had been with him for almost 10 years. He had been very fond of _Umbrine. _What a waste. He would get these bastards.

"Defence Pattern Alpha 5 Shas."

"Yes commander."

With a quick salute the Broadside left to give commands to the rest of the detachment. They quickly got into position.

Knark had been feasting on some carrion that one of his troopers had found when he had been given his orders. He told his men to get ready, having to smack at least a dozen of them with his staff to get them to move. All this inactivity had made them reckless. They moved to the forefront of the defence. They would be there to counter any push that was made by these so called 'Tyranids'. He had heard stories about them from his home-world. The Tau reckoned they were nought but mindless critters. They were wrong. The stories said that these creatures grew to be 20 foot tall and had arms like scythes capable of cutting through the toughest armour. He tried telling people, but who would listen to a Kroot?

_Shas'Vior'leKaisDre _Sat at the rear of the formation, at the head of his Assault tank. He wondered why he was there. The fight against the Imperial scum in the Damocles sector was much more important then squashing bugs on some backwater mining world. His great behemoths weren't needed to dispatch worthless creatures. However, he was a man of honour, who believed in the Greater Good and so would follow his orders to the death. He was pondering on whether to get some food when he heard the first cries of the enemy.

_Vior'leFig'ty _was crouching underneath a small barricade that had been erected quickly when the first landed. He operated the small gun platform with the 2 Pulse cannons. The other members of his weapons squad: _Gren'ho and Kay'la _were grumbling about something to each other. _Fig'ty _was the first person in the whole detachment to actually witness what the enemy looked like. He vowed he would never forget their image even till his death. He was correct. Dozens of creatures, 6 foot long and 4 foot tall with 4 arms protruding from various sections of there bodies running upwards of 20 mph came screaming down the large section of road. He had been at Damocles; he had heard the shouts of the Imperials as they rushed to their deaths from his guns. When they shouted, it was some form of uniform prayer. This was totally different. This was a primal, guttural scream that pierced the very soul of those that heard it. He quickly tracked the first of the creatures and fired massive pulse rounds from his gun. A first went down, then a second followed by a third. _Fig'ty _was proud with himself and his ability to destroy the enemy. Until it came to reload. The rest of his team were well trained and could reload the large weapons in less than 10 seconds. It was not fast enough. _Fig'ty_'s screams could not be heard above the chatter of the bugs as they ripped his body apart. His death, however, was not cheap. Not only had he killed almost 2 dozen Hormagaunts before they overran him, in his death throws he detonated the Pulse cylinder of the weapon, self-destructing the entire platform, causing the deaths of a further 7 Hormagaunts. The first charge of that brood had been weathered by the Tau. However, the Tyranids did not fear. They had plenty of charges still

Knark saw the explosion form his position 250 metres to the right of the main road. He couldn't believe that the Tyranids were attacking down the main route. That was impossible. He had thought that the action was so suicidal it could not work. There were over 50 fire warriors in that position as well as the 3 Broadsides that had accompanied the commander. He almost pitied those alien scumbags, they didn't stand a chance.

King had placed his 50 guardsmen on the left flank of the main formation. He didn't like the way the Tau treated his men. He knew he was expendable, but these Tau made it so obvious that it massively demoralized his men. He saw the explosion and felt gratified that some of the Tau had got what they deserved. He only surrendered because the other option was death. That was true of most of his men. Most. Nereno bought into their Greater Good bullshit as well as a few others. As long as he kept a dead-aim with his sniper rifle though, he could believe what he liked. The Imperials would never take him back now. He was worse than dead to them. He was a traitor.

Knark was right, the Tau were obliterating the Hormagaunts. Chunks of their sizzling meat lay strewn across the main highway where the disciplined fire had cut them down. However, the numbers of Hormagaunts did not seem to be dwindling, and the ammo reserves of the fire warriors most definitely were. _Shas'O'Vior'leNimbu _who commanded the Hunter Cadre contingent had sent a message to the commander asking for the Gun drone support. Their heavy Pulse batteries would be more than enough to counter any threat that these creatures possessed. He was surprised that the aliens had chosen to attack here. The humans on his left, or the kroot on his right, seemed to be much easier to attack than his coordinated fire team. Twice they had had to fall back because the number creatures were getting so big. However, the Broadsides had pulled them forward again, using there massed artillery, in the form of their fusion cannons, to beat back the approaching horde. He was sure he offered his life to them this day. He just wanted to be certain he could live to repay them.

Knarck chuckled to himself. He had been correct. The Tyranids had fallen to the Tau guns. The approaching heavy gun drones were sure to annihilate anything else that came out of that highway. However, he sensed that something was wrong. He knew that these creatures weren't mindless, but they seemed to be acting as such. Then he realised why. From this distance he could see the rumbling of the buildings. Something was inside coming towards the Tau force. Something huge. He got up and took the 5 most elite Carnivores he had and sprinted towards the Tau detachment. He had to warn them. Or at least kill whatever was that was coming towards them.

_Mont'yr _surveyed the scene using his holo-display. He could see that the only action seemed to be concentrated around the main formation of Tau. They had requested Gun drones but he did not think they needed it. They could handle themselves; there was need to waste Tau resources where they weren't necessary.

_Nimbu _was pleased with the efforts of his men. The number of creatures assaulting them had started to dwindle. He had reinforced his front-line with half a dozen Devilfish to lend their fire support into the frenzy. Within minutes the battle would be over and he could return with yet more honour under his belt. He was still pondering this when the building directly in front of his position exploded in a shower of ceramite and glass.

The two Carnifexes had rampaged through the building. From its 5th, to its 14th, there was nothing but empty space and ruins where they had plowed through. The first Carnifex to emerge had miscalculated the height. Even a creature 20 feet tall could not survive a 100 foot drop. However, even in death he still caused carnage. He landed on two of the Broadsides, obliterating them and him in a shower of pulse and plasma. The second Carnifex was more intelligent. He had come out at a great height, almost 40 feet, but his huge bulk meant that he could easily weather the fall. He landed on the last Broadside, ripping it apart before its core could explode. He threw the remains at a squad of small yellow things that shattered 4 bodies under the weight and then obliterated the rest from the explosion. The beast then turned its attention onto the main group of yellow squishy things.

_Nimbu _could only watch in terror. The creature had exploded out of the building with another. The first had hurtled down like a bomb, decimating two of his Broadsides. The remaining one was quickly taken care of by the second creature. The beast was currently in the middle of his fire-warriors. He had taken some horrific injuries. One of the _Shas _had managed to blast him with a pulse grenade before having the gun, and his whole body crushed beneath one of the things muscle-bound fists. There was nothing he could do. The gun-drones had still not arrived and without their heavy weapons he had nothing he could use to stop it. Then he saw Knarck fly from nowhere and strike the beast between the eyes.

Knarck knew what he was doing was suicide. However, the honour that he would gain for his tribe would be immense. His name would forever be remembered in his tribe's history as he who struck down the giant beast. It was a shame it didn't quite turn out like that. He did indeed strike the beast with his pole-arm between its eyes but he did not have the necessary strength to pierce its carapace. He dropped from the carnifex's head into one of his giant claws and was flung metres into the air and away from the fight, into the city somewhere. The rest of his troops scattered from their foe, their morale broken with their leader dead.

_Nimbu _knew that the fight had been lost. Even now, the small creatures had renewed their assault on his position. His men, in disarray, were in no state to fight them off. He was about to perceive what the Greater Good really was and he began to prepare himself to meet his maker. The Rail blast rocketed through his body. He was totally unprepared for the Hammerheads to fight back. The 4 tanks were advancing down the hill at a vast pace. He was saved. The Carnifex stood almost still for a few seconds before tumbling to the ground, huge gashes appearing where the Rail Guns had knocked straight through the creatures armour.

_Mont'yr _was not pleased. The creatures had broken through and he had had to commit his main resource in regaining the position. He would have to have stern words with their commander when this battle was over. His holo-display started to flicker as a large circle appeared, coming out of the city. He turned to his aide and inquired as to what it was. The aide began to tremble and pushed the visual button. What _Mont'yr _saw harrowed him to the bone. Thousands of gargoyles were streaming out of the city.

"Tell _Nimbu _to retreat. Now! I want my tanks back! Get the Gue've to hold them back while we retreat to a more fortified position. Inform High Command we need passage off-world. Move!"

King had just received his orders. He was to form a defensive line behind the Tau while they retreated to a better firing position. Damn suicide mission. He gave out the orders and his men began to move. No-one said anything, but there was no doubting that they would not be leaving this world.

_Nimbu _felt sorry for the humans. They would die pitifully just so that he could retreat. He felt pity, but he knew it was for the Greater Good. Their sacrifice would not be in vain.

King stood at the forefront of his men. He turned to them and addressed them:

"Each of you may harbour their own fears about the tide that is about to wash over us. However, we will not sell ourselves cheaply. The Emperor protects all of his subjects, and we still have that divine protection. So men, ready your weapons and we will destroy this filth with holy flame. To Arms!"

A raucous cry momentarily drowned out the buzz from the Tyranids. Each man found a position somewhere in the rocks. Nereno planted himself behind a rock, near the rear of the position. His long-las was smooth on his lap. He set his sights to 70 metres and prepared to give his life for the God-Emperor. A veteran named Sancho was perched next to King, in the centre-front of the formation. He had been the only one to receive a pulse carbine. It was a token of his rank as King's master-sergeant. He did not want to die here but he had a feeling that he would have no choice. Irike lay down on his stomach with his las-rifle firmly placed into his shoulder. He knew what he was about to do was for the Greater Good. He did not fear death, and King would pull them all through if the Greater Good abandoned them. Forwick was crouched behind another rock. His las-rifle was well-oiled and in perfect working condition. The tide of creatures was approaching, and for the first time in his career he did not have to choose his targets. He could let rip on full-auto and he would take down a full-clips worth of them. And that was what he fully intended to do. That, and then run to Eno as fast as he could. Eno crouched easily in his little hideaway. His flamer lay crooked under his arm while he lit his Iho-stick. They had been hard to find in the arse-end of the galaxy, but he had found a dealer in the colony that they had been staying at. He asked a high price, but it was at times like these that he felt comforted by the fact that the sticks might of killed him before the Tyranids did. Dohen lay perfectly still on the floor. He had his two knives tucked into the belt on his back. His las-carbine was in his hands and Bessy lay next to him on the floor. He shivered when he put the first shell into it. The sound it made when it coked the first shell was better than sex to him. It had been a bastard trying to smuggle it to this planet but he had managed it, with King's help.

King awaited the assault. The Tau had fled minutes ago, but the creatures had not pursued them yet. He thought that they were feasting on the bodies of the fallen. The gargoyles were hovering about 700 metres away. He had to Nereno not to open fire until he knew he cold start inflicting casualties. Movement to the North-east of him caught his attention. He directed Sancho to aim his pulse-carbine at it.

"You need to see this sir."

King looked through the pearly sights. What he saw shocked him. Dozens of Kroot were advancing towards him. They were so stealthy that he only caught glimpses of a few of them as they walked towards him. He was caught off-guard when one of them suddenly appeared next to him from the undergrowth.

"You lead here."

King wasn't sure if it was a question or not.

"Yes, what can I do for you."

"We must flee this place. They have killed Knarck. There is no hope for us now."

"I have my orders, I will stay."

"We go into the city. We will wait for as long as we can."

"Thank you, but that is not necessary."

"As you wish."

And just like that, they were gone. King shook his head as they left. Fools. Then he laughed to himself. Perhaps he was the fool for not taking them up on the offer. The rampaging horde was beginning to move again. The Gargoyles were beginning to take flight and were coming at an increasingly fast pace. King made a silent prayer to the Emperor and then readied his weapon.

_Nimbu _had just made it back to the rendezvous point with the main Tau force. He was arguing with _Mont'yr _as to why he was not giving the Gun Drones that he ordered.

"They were not necessary commander. That is all I have to say. The Guev'ae will do their jobs and die honourably for the Greater Good."

"I must implore you sir, at least give me a small detachment to assist them."

"No it will not be done."

Nereno had sighted in his first opponent. It was approximately 80 metres and flying extremely fast. He gave a slight breath out before putting pressure on the trigger. The gargoyle fell out of the sky like a brick. Nereno had no time to wallow in his triumph as dozens more were already taking its place. He felt slightly annoyed at the fact that Forwick had already taken down 20-odd of them by spraying on full-auto and he was stuck with a sniper rifle. He was very rarely annoyed at his highly codified weapon, but this was one of those days. His 5th Gargoyle fell down. He cocked the rifle and looked down the sight again.

Irike was starting to doubt the Greater Good. How could it let them all fail so miserably like this? There was just too many of them. He had already gone through 3 clips and was beginning to run dry. The casualties that the formation had managed to inflict did nothing to stop the horde coming ever closer like a tidal wave back on Cironal. He checked his belt. There were only 2 clips left. For the Greater Good, he chuckled, and then started firing.

Forwick was dry. He currently held the largest kill-count, but it didn't mater much. The horde was less than 150 metres away. He hadn't even been able to dent them. It was pointless even trying to reach Eno now. Then he saw Dohen do something that inspired them all. Considering Dohen wasn't a particularly holy man, he had managed to perform a miracle. Forwick got up and began to run as fast as he could at Eno.

Eno was smiling. Dohen was going to die a hero. It was probably much more than he would ever get. He saw Forwick start screaming towards him and brought his flamer to bear. He didn't even need to aim. He just pulled the trigger.

Dohen was flying. He had gotten up when the assault first started and went to King's position. They had been hit by the assault quicker than the rest of the group. Bessy had had a field day, before it was snapped in two by a rampaging Gargoyle. One round had managed to blow a Gargoyle's head clean off and the gore the spewed out seemed to be highly acidic. All of the Gargoyles around it were disintegrated by the blood. Steam started to rise from there bodies as they crashed down to Earth. When the shotgun had gone, he resorted to his carbine. It spewed out death extremely quickly at this range. But even that could not have lasted forever. When the clip had run out, he pulled out his twin babies. A Gargoyle had started its descent into the group. As it came towards him, he jumped into the air and plunged his daggers into the beast's back. It swooped underneath him and he was dragged upwards into the sky. He let out a whoop and hung on for dear life. It was him that first saw the Stingrays.

King was dying. He had weathered major wounds from a Gargoyle as one of its talons ripped through his chest-plate and into the exposed flesh beyond. His rifle has acted as a bayonet, crushing the Gargoyle's head as he fell to the ground. Around him, he saw his life-blood pouring out. He took his last few breaths before his vision started to darken. He saw Sancho lying next to him on the floor, his face a bloody mess where a Gargoyle had chewed of the right side. His brains were lolling out of the gaping wound. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, the missiles started to fall.

_Nimbu _watched with horror as the Stingrays battered both the human formation and the rampaging horde of creatures. _Mont'yr _turned to him and spoke.  
"Landing craft are coming. A reinforcement fleet has managed to beat back the Beasts in space. We are getting out of here."


End file.
